1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to high frequency electromagnetic circuits, in particular to those made on planar or quasi-planar substrates, where the circuit is patterned on a metallic or superconducting film on top of a dielectric in any of the configurations known to those skilled in the art (for instance micro-strip, strip-line, co-planar, parallel plate or slot-line configurations). A part of the circuit such as the characteristic strip or slot of the configurations is shaped in a novel space-filling geometry which allows a significant size reduction of the circuit component. Miniature transmission lines, capacitors, inductors, resistors, filters and oscillators can be manufactured this way.
The invention is preferably applicable to the telecommunications field and more specifically to high frequency electromagnetic circuits.
2. Description of Related Art
There are many applications where planar circuits are used which would benefit from a reduction in the circuit size. This is the case, for example, in aerospace applications and mobile communication systems where weight and volume of the equipment is severely restricted. This reduction is also desirable when the cost of a substrate (the dielectric and metals or superconductors covering it) is expensive.